Indicator and control device



Sept. 22, 1953 R. c. SIEBERT INDICATOR AND CONTROL DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1950 Q [17 VP]? for iqymzzd 6. Slave/ a Sept. 22, 1953 R. c. SIEBERT INDICATOR AND CONTROL DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 13, 1950 Patented Sept. 22,1953

INDICATOR AND CONTROL DEVICE Raymond C. Siebert, ,P

arkRidge, Ill., assignor to.

Crescent Industries, Inc., Chicago, 111., a cor- .poration of Illinois Application May '13, 1950, Serial No. 161,779

10 Claims. (Cl. 161-1) This invention relates to an indicatortand control device, and more particularly, to timer devices such as rotary time registers which include a simple transfer mechanism.

It is particularly suited to use the registering of elapsed time, as by indicating minutes and seconds. Thus, by way of example, and not by way of limitation, it may be used to record elapsed dictation or playing time in a magnetic recorder. H

An object of this invention is to provide a simple, low cost, easily constructed timer.

- Another object is to .provide such a timer which will require very'little operating power. Preferably, the power required should be essentially constant, increasing only slightly during the moment when a transfer occurs.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a timer which works equally well in any position, and thus the direction in which the force of gravity acts upon the device will not alter its functioning. Still a further object of the present invention is .to provide a rotary register which works equally well in either direction, forward or reverse. This is particularly desirable in applying the timer to use with magnetic recorders. When the magnetic record member is being rewound, the register will turn back accurately to provide a continual indexing of the wire position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a timer which is readily adapted to actuate a switch at any preselected point. As applied to magnetic recorders, this switch might be utilized to reverse the direction of wind or to stop the drive when the end of the record member is approached.

It will readily be seen that in attaining these objects a very flexible register mechanism is 'cre'ated. Any phenomena which may be converted to a rotary motion may be registered as, for example, cycles of operation, miles of travel, fluid flow past rotary vanes and, of course, time. One embodiment. employs lower and higher order wheels or disks placed on a common shaft. The wheel or disk of lower order has connected therewith a cam which acts upon an externally supported detent means. This detent means is provided to lock the wheel or disk of higherorder until the completion of a cycle. Upon the completion af a cycle, the cam momentarily .relieves the restraint imposed by the detent means. For this moment, then, the wheel or disk of higher order is free 'tobe advanced oneunit to record the completion ofthat cycle. v The cam anddetent'means are so arranged as to operate 2 with equal effectiveness whether the rotation be forward or backward.

'Whilesome of the more salient features, characteristics and .advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

In Figure 1 of the drawings an embodiment of the invention is shown in a front elevation view;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the assembled device;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line 'IIL-III of liligure l to illustrate the assembled relationship of all of the elements;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional View taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3 to illustrate particularly the slotted ratchet gear; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View through the switch housing looking up at the bottom of the main housing.

The timer illustrated in the various figures of the drawings includes a housing Hi upon which is supported amain shaft i I, a switch i 2 and in put drive shaft H (see Figure 3). This drive shaft [3 is supported for rotation in a hub M which may be staked or otherwise secured to the housing Hi. To the outer end of the drive shaft I3 is secured a coupling sleeve l5 for receiving a shaft or capstamthe revolutions of which are to be registered... A pinion drive gear I6 inside the housing It is also secured to the drive; shaft l3.

The revolutions of the mitted to a center hub drive gear I6 are transdrive gear i6, it is but frictionally coupled to the center hub 11 by a clutch spring 19. This clutch spring l9 may be made of any suitable resilient material of triangular or other outline, and rotatablyfitted to the hub 11. A retainer ring 2| secured to the hub l7 holds both the spring l9 and. the gear [8 against a shoulder 22 formed in thehub. To put the clutch spring is under stress and thereby increase its frictional engagement, several nubbins 20 are upraised near the 7 through a gear [8. While this gear I8 is constantly in mesh with seconds disk 26, a shoulder 30 is provided on the center hub l1 bearing against the upper face of the outer hub 21. Movement of the outer hub 21 in the downward direction is cam 25.

To permit the transmittal of a limited amount of torque from the center 21, the journal surfaces rotation of the center hub and the seconds disk 26 urges a corresponding rotation of the outer hub 21 and the minute disk 29.

Referring now to Figure 4, the means for restraining the rotation of the minute disk 29 will be made clear. Since the ratchet gear 28 is secured to the outer hub 21 for rotation in common with the minute disk 29, the controlling of the rotation of the ratchet gear will likewise control the rotation of the minute disk. In this view, the teeth 32 of the ratchet gear are shown to be engaged by an index lever 33. This lever is pivotally supported by a bracket 34 and urged by a spring 35 to rotate into engagement with the teeth 32. The bracket 34, in turn, is'adjustably secured to the housing In by a screw 36. An aperture 31 in registry with another aperture formed in the base of the bracket 34 is provided to accommodate a pointed tool for adjusting the position of the bracket 34 in setting the zero value.

At the particular instant in the operating cycle here illustrated, the finger 38 of the lift cam 25 has lifted the index lever out of engagement with the teeth 32. It will be noted that the cam finger 38 extends only slightly beyond the radius of the crest of the teeth 32 and has approximately the same profile as the teeth. The manner in which the cam operates to advance the minute disk will be described subsequently. r

Assuming that the cam had been rotating in a clockwise direction, the index lever 33 is about to drop into a slot 39. This might suitably be the point in the cycle when registration is a maximum.

Now, referring back to Figure 3, it will be seen that as the index lever 33 falls into the slot 39, it will simultaneously move the switch lever 40 to its opposite position. The index lever will then be in the dotted position 33a.

The switch 12 may be generally termed a snapaction, single-pole, double-throw switch. The snap action is achieved through the action of the compression spring 4| mounted on switch lever 40 and acting upon a movable contact arm 42. The resilient arm 43 on which the lever 40 is mounted is bifurcated to allow the passage therethrough of movable arm 42.

In the normal position shown, movable contact 44 and contact 45 are electrically engaged. When, however, index lever 33 moves to position 33a, movable contact 44 will be instead electrically engaged with contact 46. Arm 42 and leads 41 and 48 for contacts 45 and 46 are all electrically isolated by insulators 49. The entire switch limited by the lift" hub l1 tothe outer hub 7 3| on the outer hub 21 I are carefully machined and lubricated; Thus,

mechanism is supported on an adjustable bracket 50, which is secured to the timer housing Ill.

Referring now to Figure 1, a flared, annular rim 5! integral with the housing In is seen to be graduated, as here shown, into sixty divisions. The minute dial 29, concentrically inward of the divisioned rim 5|, carries a minute pointer 52. Likewise, the second dial 23, positioned concentrically within the minute dial, carries a seconds pointer 53. The registered time here indicated by the pointers 52 and 53 is fifty-nine minutes and zero seconds.

Near the periphery of the seconds dial 25, a

plurality of equally spaced knobs 54 project outwardly to provide a finger hold and also to provide an obvious visual indication of rotation. As

; shown-here, the knobs 54 and the pointer 53 di- 'vide the circumference of the seconds dial into ten equal segments.

The cap screw 55 threaded to the main shaft ll restrains the center hub 11 in its assembled position on the shaft. By merely removing this ca screw 55, the rotatable parts of the timer mechanism may be removed from the housing for maintenance and repair.

Referring again to Figure 4, the index lever 33 will normally take a position at the base of the thread, at some point such as 56, securingthe ratchet gear 28 against rotation. The significance of the base point 56 will be described hereafter. r

If the drive gear I6 is now turned at a suitable uniform rate, proportionate to the elapse of time, the seconds disk 26 will make one revolution in each minute. Since the lift cam 25 i staked to the same center hub H for common rotation with the seconds dial 26, it will be revolved at the same rate. Each time that the cam finger 38 strikes the index lever 33, it will press'the lever outwardly beyond the crest of the teeth 32. From the moment when the cam finger 38 makes contact with the index lever 33 until the moment when contact ceases, the entire spring pressure exerted by the index lever will be carried by the cam. Thus, during this interval, the ratchet gear 28 will not be restrained.

As the ratchet gear is continually urged by friction at the surfaces 3| to rotate in common with the seconds dial 26, it will when unrestrained assume the same rate of rotation as the cam. Since the profile of the cam finger is approximately the same as that of the teeth 32, only one of these teeth, the one beneath the cam finger, willpass the index lever while it is in contact with the cam finger. Thus, upon each revolution of the seconds dial, and, therefore, of the lift cam, the ratchet gear will be advanced one pitch. Asthe ratchet gear carries sixty teeth, an advance of one pitch will correspond to an advance of one minute by the minute dial. This applies where the register is designed to accumulate one hour before returning to zero.

It will readily be seen that if the timer is driven in the opposite direction so that the lift cam rotates counterclockwise, the accumulations will be transferred in the reverse direction. That is, if the seconds dial rotates counterclockwise, upon each of its revolutions, the minute dial, will be advanced one unit counterclockwise. The direction of rotation of the minute dial, it will be recalled, is determined by the direction of frictional force at the surfaces 3|. Therefore, if the center hub l1 rotates in one direction, the friction will cause a like rotation in the disk hub- 21. Now, since the secondsdial and thelift cam:

sease:

are secured to the center hub and the minute'di'al and ratchet gear are secured to the outer hub, it follows that the minute dial is always urged to rotate in the same direction as the seconds dial. Furthermore, the symmetrical profile of the cam finger and the ratchet teeth assures that a rotation of the seconds dial in either direction will produce a correspond. advance of the minute dial in the same direction.

The exact position of the seconds pointer when the minute dial is advanced depends on the relationship of the seconds pointer to the lift cam. As shown in Figure 4, the one-second interval during which the cam finger is in contact with the index lever occurs while the seconds pointer travels from division 59 to 60 on the graduated dial. Assuming that rotation had beenin the clockwise direction, it will then be seen that the minute pointer illustrated has just been advanced from 58 to 59 on the graduated dial. If the rota tion had instead been in the counterclockwise direction, the minute pointer would be about to turn back from 59 to 58.

Returning now to the starting point of zero with the index lever at point 56 and assuming again a clockwise rotation, the position of the pointers here illustrated would result from 59 revolutions of the seconds dial, or the elapse of 59 minutes if time is being measured.

The slot 39 is preferably so located on the ratchet gear that it will h e-positioned to receive the index lever at this instant, that is, at the last accumulation before the minute pointer returns to zero. Of course, the slot could be located anywhere on the periphery of the ratchet gear or a plurality of slots might be so located. The position of the slot shown here, however, is particularly suitable in an application of the timer device to use on wire recorders and the like.

To review the operations at this stage of the timerregistration, consider the positions one second earlier when the index lever was at the base point '7. The minute pointer was then indicating 58 and the seconds pointer 59. As the seconds pointer advanced from 59 to zero, the cam finger lifted the index lever away to the position shown, the ratchet gear advanced until the slot was opposite the lever, and the minute pointer advanced from 58 to 59. Now, as the cam continues to rotate clockwise, the index lever is urged into the slot whence it contacts and moves the switch lever 40 to its opposite position. In the suggested application of this device to wire recorders, this actuation of the switch may be utilized to ring a warning bell, to stop the wire spool drive, or to reverse the spool drive. In the many possible applications of this timer device, similar and additional utilizations of the switch will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

Another application to which the device of the present invention maybe put involves eliminating the switch assembly associated with the ratchet gear and the detent mechanism, so that the device is operated as an indicator device only, without the automatic switching arrange ment.

The whole switch assembly I2 may be shifted by, adjustable movement of the bracket 50 to position the movable switch arm 42 foractuation by the lever or latching member 33.

If rotation continues in the clockwise direction, the elapse of sixty more seconds will bring the index lever to a position at the b'ase point 56. If, on the other hand, the rotation is reversed, the

index lever will, after the elapseof a few seconds, be again positioned at the base point 57. From the foregoing description, it should be noted that the pointers exactly indicate the total of the clockwise rotations minus the counterclockwise rotation. There is no lag, nor are there any lost intervals. Therefore, again considering the application of this timer device to magnetic recorders, each indication on the timer could be made to represent a specific portion of the record member and thereby to function as an index.

Besides the evident features of simplicity in construction and efficacy of the timer mechanism, there are additional features. For example, the dials may be reset to any desired position such as zero merely by applying suitable rotational finger pressure to them, the clutch spring l9 allowing slippage. Also, the index lever bracket 34 may be adjusted toexactly align the pointers with the dial graduations.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will, of course, be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

"I claim as my invention:

1. A timer comprising a rotatable drive member, a rotatable driven member having a plurality of latching portions circumferentially disposed therearound, at least one of said latching portions being of different radial depth than the others, friction means connecting said drive member to said driven member, a spring, a latching member resiliently urged by said spring into engagement with said latching pontions to restrain rotational movement of said driven member, and means periodically operated by said drive mem-= her for disengaging said latching member from its associated latching portions, whereby said latching member successively engages first one latching portion and then another, including said latching portion of different radial depth, and a switch having a movable contact element connected to be actuated by movement of said latching member in a radial direction the length of throw necessary to actuate said switch being that determined by movement of said latching member into said latching portion of said different radial depth.

2. A timer comprising a housing having an annular surface portion on one end thereof with indicia marks therearound, a rotatable shaft having a disk secured thereon, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft and said ratchet wheel including cooperating means for frictionally resisting relative rotation therebetween, an intermediate member secured for rotation with said ratchet wheel and having an annular surface portion lying between said annular surface portion of said housing and said disk, said two surface portions and said disk forming substantially a contiguous surface, a-cam finger secured on said shaft, means for driving said shaft, a ratchet member engaging said ratchet wheel, biasing means urging said ratchet member against said ratchet Wheel, said cam being positioned to strike said ratchet member and lift it out of engagement with said ratchet wheel momentarily once each revolution of said shaft, whereby said ratchet wheel is angularly advanced by said shaft a predetermined angle duringxeachperiod the ratchet member is out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, said second surface portion and said disk each carrying an indicating mark cooperating with the indicia marks on the annular surface portion of said housing to give a relative time indication.-

3. A timer comprising a rotatable shaft, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft and said ratchet wheel including cooperating friction means normally tending to cause said wheel to rotate with said shaft, a cam finger secured on said shaft, means for driving said shaft, a ratchet member engaging said ratchet wheel, biasing means urging said ratchet member against said wheel, said cam being positioned to strike said ratchet member and lift it momentarily out of engagement with said ratchet wheel once each revolution of said shaft, said ratchet wheel including at least one notched portion in the periphery thereof greater than the depth of the teeth thereby to indicate the end of a predetermined elapsed time when said ratchet member falls into said notched portion.

4. A timer comprising a rotatable shaft, a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft and said ratchet wheel including cooperative friction means normally tending to cause said wheel to rotate with said shaft, a cam finger secured on said shaft, means for driving said shaft, a ratchet member engaging said ratchet wheel, biasing means urging said ratchet member against said wheel, said cam being positioned to strike said ratchet member and lift it momentarily out of engagement with said ratchet wheel once each revolution of said shaft, said ratchet wheel including at least one notched portion in the periphery thereof greater than the depth of the teeth, a switch including at least one stationary contact element and one movable contact element, said movable contact element being positioned to be actuated by movement of said ratchet member into said notched portion of said ratchet wheel.

5. A timer comprising a cylindrical housing having an end wall, a stationary center post mounted in said end wall, a hollow shaft journaled on said center post, said hollow shaft having a shoulder thereon, a hub journaled on said hollow shaft and seated against said shoulder, a ratchet wheel secured to said hub, a cam finger secured to said shaft adjacent said hub, said shaft having a second shoulder thereon, a gear journaled on said shaft and seated against said second shoulder, spring means carried on said shaft urging said gear against said second shoulder, a finger mounted on said housing for movement into and out of engagement with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, spring means normally urging said ratchet finger into engagement with said ratchet wheel, said cam finger having its end substantially simulating one tooth of said ratchet wheel and extending slightly beyond said ratchet wheel whereby said cam finger disengages said ratchet finger from engagement with said ratchet wheel once each revolution of said shaft for a period long enough for said vance one tooth.

6. A timer comprising a cylindrical housing having an end wall, a stationary center post mounted in said end wall, a hollow shaft journaled on said center post, said hollow shaft having a shoulder thereon, a hub journaled on said hollow shaft and seated against said shoulder, a ratchet wheel secured to said hub, a cam finger secured to said shaft adjacent said hub, said shafthaving a second shoulder thereon, a

ratchet wheel to adgear journaled on said shaft and seated against said second shoulder, spring means carried on said shaft urging said gear against said second shoulder, a finger mounted on said housing for movement into and out of engagement with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, spring means normally urging said ratchet finger into engagement with said ratchet wheel, said cam finger having its end substantially simulating one tooth of said ratchet wheel and extending slightly beyond said ratchet wheel whereby said cam finger disengages said ratchet finger from engagement with said ratchet wheel once each revolution of said shaft for a period long enough for said ratchet wheel to advance one tooth, said ratchet'wheel having a notched portion substantially deeper than the depth of any tooth thereon and of sufficient size for said ratchet finger to fall into when said notched portion passes opposite said ratchet finger.

7. A timer comprising a cylindrical housing having an end wall, a stationary center post mounted in said end wall, a hollow shaft journaled on said center post, said hollow shaft having a shoulder thereon, a hub journaled on said hollow shaft and seated against said shoulder, a ratchet wheel secured to said hub, a cam finger secured to said shaft adjacent said hub, said shaft having a second shoulder thereon, a gear journaled on said shaft and seated against said second shoulder, spring means carried on said shaft urging said gear against said second shoulder, a finger mounted on said housing for movement into and out of engagement with the teeth of said ratchet wheel, spring means normally urging said ratchet finger into engagement with said ratchet wheel, said cam finger having its end substantially simulating one tooth of said ratchet wheel and extending slightly beyond said ratchet wheel whereby said cam finger disengages said ratchet finger from engagement with said ratchet wheel once each revolution of saidshaft for a period long enough for said ratchet wheel to advance one tooth, said ratchet wheel having a notched portion substantially deeper than the depth of any tooth thereon and of sufiicient size for said ratchet finger to fall into when said notched portion passes opposite said ratchet finger, and a switch unit mounted on said housing and depending therefrom, said switch unit including a movable contact actuating member extending into said housing and into the path of movement of said ratchet finger and so positionedwith respect to said ratchet finger that said switch unit is actuated by movement of said ratchet finger into the notched portion of said ratchet wheel.

8. A timer comprising a dished housing having an annular surface portion on the open end thereof with spaced indicia marks therearound, a shaft rotatably supported in said housing having a position indicator secured thereon, a wheel journaled on said shaft and frictionally urged to rotate therewith, said wheel also having a position indicator secured thereon, said position indicators being mounted to provide an indication of position relative to the indicia marks on said housing, a cam co-rotatively secured to said shaft, and detent means resiliently urged toward said shaft to lockingly engage the periphery of said wheel, said detent means including a cam follower portion positioned for periodic engagement with said cam, thereby to hold said detent means out of engagement with said wheel for an amount of rotation ,of said wheel with said shaft determined by the profile of said cam, said position indicators providing a visual indication of the respective rotations.

9. A timer comprising a dished housing having an annular surface portion on the open end thereof with time indicia marks spaced therearound, a shaft rotatably supported in said housing having a pointer secured thereon, a toothed wheel journaled on said shaft and also having a pointer secured thereon, a detent member extending parallel to said shaft and resiliently biased theretoward to seat between adjacent teeth of said wheel, and a cam co-rotatively secured to said shaft, said cam having a profile similar to said teeth and extending radially therebeyond for camming said detent member out of contact with said teeth, the journal friction between said shaft and said wheel being sufiicient to cause said toothed wheel to turn with said shaft while one of its teeth is turned past the cammed away detent member, and said teeth being equal in number with said time indicia marks whereby said wheel pointer advances one indicia mark for each rotation of said shaft pointer.

10. In an indicator, a rotary drive member, a ratchet wheel concentric with said drive member and frictionally coupled thereto for co-rotation, an index lever movable against and away from the edge of said wheel, a cam plate secured to said drive member for engagement with said index lever to move the same away from said wheel, spring means biasing said index lever against said cam plate and said wheel, and position indicator members co-rotating with said drive member and said ratchet wheel respectively and on the same side of said ratchet wheel.

RAYMOND C. SIEBERT.

Name Date Steiert July 30, 1940 Number 

